En route to becoming America's preeminent Broadway composer-lyricist, Stephen Sondheim took a few darkly hued detours into the lives of murderously deranged historical characters, probably his best known being "Sweeney Todd."

If you asked our nation's youth about the meaning of "the call of duty," they would probably answer something about a video game or a blockbuster movie. Our veterans will assign a completely different meaning to the words "call of duty." To them, it means...